Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution

This is from an email which is in circulation which I wanted to post on this blog.

It isn't perfect but it addresses a number of issues which have frustrated many of us. Maybe if a Grassroots effort gets momentum, some of these issues will be addressed, possibly by Amendment and possibly by legislation.

The problem now is that we have the fox guarding the hen house. We are the chicken being plucked!

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The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months and 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc..

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. Term Limits. 12 years only, one of the possible options below..

A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms

2. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

3. Congress (past , present and future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

Importance of Redistricing and the Tennor of Legislature

As we enter into the process of sculpting the Legislative Districts for the State of Maryland, we need to look past boundaries and seriously consider the impact these new districts will have on our Country, Our State and ourselves. If we continue to have districts which are politically drawn with unstated but implicit goal of safe seats for the "party faithful" and if the "party faithful" are fanatically "left" or "right", then we will guarantee a continuing dysfunctional Congress.

When it passed the law requiring single-member elections, Congress also created some vague rules for drawing the boundaries of congressional districts; each state's voting districts were supposed to be geographically contiguous, compact in shape, and roughly equal in population.

But those rules were pretty loose and subjective, which opened the door for state politicians to pull all kinds of shenanigans in drawing district boundaries for partisan gain. This is known as gerrymandering—the manipulation of the boundaries of congressional districts to serve the interests of the political party drawing the boundaries. (The odd-sounding name comes from founding father Elbridge Gerry, who was serving as Governor of Massachusetts in 1812 when he drew up the state's legislative districts to favor his own Democratic-Republican Party. Gerry's critics thought that one of the resulting districts, a snakelike creation stretching northeast from Boston, looked like a salamander—a monstrous creation they called a "Gerrymander." From http://www.shmoop.com/legislative-branch/house-of-representatives.html

As the Sunpapers so accurately noted, there is little moderation in Congress and few members are "middle of the road".

Thanks to gerrymandered congressional districts that mean many representatives face competition only in their party primaries, there are few centrists left, and members of both parties' fringes not only have an incentive to embrace extremism but reason to fear for their re-election prospects if they don't. The Baltimore Sunpapers Editioral August 2, 2011.

If the constituents are moderate, then how do we end up with "representatives" who do not represent our ideals and principals? The simple reason is that we have abandoned responsibility.

We as a citizenry have abdicated our role to be involved in our government and have allowed party “hacks” and “zealots” to take control of the local County Party and Central Committees.

Is it any wonder that the individuals who are supported by the local party are carbon copies of the ideology of the Central Committee? That the candidates are extreme and not moderate? That collectively we hold our nose when we cast our votes?

The Calendar for Public Hearings on Redistricting has begun.

Here is the calendar, we need to take notice, educate ourselves and let our voices be heard,

Public hearings will start at the designated time and end following the last testimony of registered persons.

The hearings and start times will be:
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The Universities at Shady Grove
Building #1 Auditorium
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
9630 Gudelsky Drive
Rockville, MD 20850 (Driving Directions)
Parking in lot 2
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in

Friday, August 12, 2011
Morgan State University
Student Center - Calvin & Tina Tyler Ballroom (Campus Map)
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
1700 East Cold Spring Lane
Baltimore MD 21251 (Driving Directions)
Park in the stadium parking garage (13 on map) and take bridge on 3rd level into the Student Center
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
College of Southern Maryland
Center for Business and Industry, #113 (Campus Map)
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
8730 Mitchell Road
La Plata, MD 20646 (Driving Directions)
Park in lots 2, 6 & 7 – Most convenient to BI
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in

Saturday, August 27, 2011
Harford Community College
Amoss Center (next to Harford Technical H.S.) (Campus Map)
Starts at 11:00 a.m.
200 Thomas Run Road
Bel Air, MD 21015 (Driving Directions)
Parking all around school
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Towson University
Stephens Hall Theater (Campus Map)
Starts at 2:00 p.m.
8000 York Road
Towson, MD 21252 (Driving Directions)
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Anne Arundel Community College
Center for Applied Learning & Technology (CALT) 100 (Campus Map)
Starts at 4:00 p.m.
101 College Parkway
Arnold, MD 21012 (Driving Directions)
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Howard County
Wilde Lake Interfaith Center, Room 4 (Campus Map)
Starts at 7:00 p.m.
10431 Twin Rivers Road
Columbia MD , 21044 (Driving Directions)
• Public Testimony Advance Sign-in

Open Letter to Washington about the Budget

It has been over 800 days since our Government has had a budget.

This is not a GOP or Democrat issue, it is a symptom of dysfunction resulting from a misguided intransigent positioning along party lines. I am concerned with belligerent, opposition Senator Reid has taken in regard to the budgets which have been passed by the House of Representatives.

As elected officials our Representatives and Senators have the responsibility to put COUNTRY FIRST, above party interest and above the next election.

If a serious, even flawed, budget is presented, please work to bring it to the floor for debate and passage. It may not be a Democratic budget, but we have not seen a budget from the Democrats.

As the Government looks to determine who to pay and who not to pay, let me suggest that unless and until a budget is passed and signed into law, no one in the Legislature or Executive Branch be compensated or have expenses paid or reimbursed. None have earned remuneration until they do.

We will all watch to see what action and resolution is made of this crisis, it will significantly influence who returns after the next election.

Please cross over party lines and work towards a compromise, be a statesman you were elected to be.

What a Game

Last night I thought I was going to a baseball game with the O's vs the Nationals but left with a football game score of 17 to 5. Two touchdowns and a field goal vs a filed goal and a safety. Great temperature and low humidity, friends all around a great night for baseball. Then the opening pitch and the slide down began. The Nationals had a exceptional game 6 home runs! The O's just demonstrated their pitching problems and lack of offense. However 5 runs with good pitching should win games.

All in all at least it took my sorrows away from the economy, our representatives in power etc, but on looking again our nemesis remains connected to DC, only this time it's the baseball team.

If the Rapture is coming, I am unconcerned that any from Capital Hill or the White House will be with us. If they are, then God really is a mystery!

Being generous with other's money

What recently caught my ear and made me think was Obama's generosity with Egypt and the other Arab countries "going through transition", i.e. change in government. Evidently not only do we give Egypt 1 Billion Dollars annually but they also owe us 1 Billion Dollars. Our magnanimous and generous President has the "courage" to tell Egypt, never mind, you don't need to pay your debt to us and ah yes, we will continue to send you our dollars. Now he also wants to purchase friendship on the Arab streets in Egypt, and other Arab countries. I think he'd welcome the change no chance to join the Arab Brotherhood. But my question is if the Arab nations need support, where are the Oil Rich Arab Countries? Doesn't Saudi Arabia have substantial surplus? Don't they have an obligation to support brother Arabs. Or are we the patsy? WE should go broke sending more money to the Arabs so we can rack up our public debt so as not to burden our "friends" in Arabia.

It's time to realize they are not friends or allies. They may not hate us but they certainly do not willingly support us. Stop bankrupting our future generations by sending any money to Arabia. Maybe we should expect to be paid by the Oil Producing Arab Countries for being their mercenaries and protecting these rich dictatorships.

I am not a foreign policy expert but something just does not balance.

Government as usual must stop.

Our Politicians have been given a free ride by the press and the electorate.

What is troubling is that there isn't much more that rumbling in the street.